Personal Injury Lawyer Referrals

The likelihood that you have a friend who has gone through a significant personal injury case is low. So if you do get injured in a car accident or motorcycle accident, you may not know where to turn. Personal referrals are often the best. However even with personal referrals you still need to weigh your options and choose the lawyer you work with best, not just the one someone recommended. If you do know a lawyer or someone who had the misfortune to be involved in a Denver motorcycle crash, then ask that person for advice first.

If you do not really know where to go for a lawyer be cautious. All lawyers are looking to get their name out there with some sort of advertising, whether it be internet marketing, yellow pages, TV ads, or state Bar directories. You must understand that not all of these sources have quality Denver personal injury lawyers. In fact some injury lawyers are downright predatory. One style of lawyer that is considered predatory and not sanctioned by the Bar are ambulance chasers.

Ambulance chasers are injury lawyers that are just looking to use looser civil law to sue anytime anyone gets a serious injury. They often work as an unspoken scam between the plaintiff and lawyer. The plaintiff is basically indirectly told that if they get injured by say, slipping on someone's property that can afford to pay, the lawyer has a good chance of getting a settlement and a check for the both of them.

Physically going to the accident or the hospital to solicit business is against Bar regulations everywhere in Colorado and the rest of the United States. The Colorado Bar does a good job of distinguishing between trustworthy Denver injury attorneys and ambulance chasers.

If you do know a lawyer you trust, they usually have a network of referrals just like doctors and specialists. Every lawyer knows an injury attorney because large injuries can be lucrative. Companies often have insurance which pays settlements before such cases go to court. When selecting a lawyer it is important that they match your wishes in personality, service and goals. Do you want the lawyer to be aggressive as possible? Do you want them to walk you through the process like a coach? Do you just need a settlement as quickly as possible? Have a list of your wants and needs and talk to the accident attorney about them before you decide on who to hire.

Obtaining Medical Records after a Motorcycle Accident Personal Injury for Negotiation with the Insurance Company

After any kind of accident or injury involving either a lawsuit or insurance company, you will need copies of your medical records. Medical records help establish the facts of the case and are one of the basic metrics used to determine damages or compensation from a Denver motorcycle injury.

In our adversarial legal system, people and companies usually will not pay unless they have to, regardless of fault. So the first thing that medical records do is establish that an injury or condition was caused by the car accident. If you do not have a Denver personal injury lawyer, unscrupulous insurance adjusters may try and claim that your injuries were pre-existing. As the claimant, you do have the burden to prove your case against any attacks.

Of course you may also need to know how to access and distribute your records if your injury requires the attention of a specialist.

Outside of motorcycle injuries, medical malpractice suits usually revolve around medical records, which may mean the doctor is loath to give them up. However you do have the right to access all of your records because of a piece of legislation called the Federal Health Information Portability and Accountability Act. Generally, the act states that you have access to your own records, or someone else's if you are their representative or guardian. Executors of estates also have access to the deceased party's records. You also may ask for the records if you are related to the deceased and their disease history may shed light on your own problems.

There are a few exceptions to the records you are allowed to access. Usually these are not important for your Denver injury lawyer unless your case is related to psychotherapy or could endanger you. The law requires the medical provider to give you records within 30 days, or give a written reason for delays. Of course some state laws give patients more rights. Colorado injury patient laws are a little stricter. If you need the records and the hospital will not release them, you may need to hire a lawyer. This usually only happens when there is a pending medical malpractice lawsuit.

The doctor or hospital is allowed to charge you a reasonable fee for the records, and sometimes the records are not complete if they consist of several different specialists. You may have to file requests to each doctor to get your full medical history. It is always best to have as complete a medical history as possible before going to court as a car accident victim.